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Trip to Sweden, February 2009
A February to Remember! 2009
| This February, Ann and I managed to spend a few weeks in Sweden, since Ann and her best friend, Bitte (who had her 50th birthday during our visit), had signed up for a very traditional ski race that takes place annually in the small city of Mora (about Mora, slide show, virtual tourist). The city celebrates the tradition with a week of activities, which includes different races. The race the two ladies entered is called, “Tjej Vasan” (translated: “Ladies Vasa Race” - official web site), and it covers 30 km (18 mi) of cross-country skiing. Over 7000 ladies from around Sweden and the world entered the race, and about 6500 actually did the race. Less than 50 of those who skied did not complete the race. Talk about “Sisters doin’ it for themselves”! |  |
| A week before the race, Ann traveled to the south of Sweden to visit her mom, brothers, and nephew. One of the highlights of that week was an ice hockey game that her brother, Solle, took them to. Arriving back in Stockholm, I joined her, and we stayed with her sister, Anneli, and her wonderful family who took *amazingly* good care of us. Anneli’s husband, Zouga, cooked one great dinner after another, sometimes after a long day of work. It was so much fun watching all the activities their kids are doing – horseback riding, tennis, and … homework! – and just to sit around talking and doing some major catching-up well into the wee hours. |  |
| A couple of days before the race, we drove up to the town of Nusnäs (in the region known as “Dalarna”), where we got to stay in a house owned by a friend of Bitte and her husband, Kenta. Nusnäs is a town known for its production of the Dala horse, a handcrafted horse (hand cut, carved, dipped in a background paint, and then hand painted with their very traditional, internationally recognized floral designs) whose origins can be traced back to the year 1624. We, of course, had to make a visit to the factory and do some souvenir shopping. The race went really well and both ladies came in with a respectable time and amazingly little pain. Both Kenta and I paced nervously in -15 to -20 degrees C (5 to -5 degrees F) wind chill for about an hour and half before they arrived. |  |
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We celebrated that night after the race with a wonderful meal Kenta put together, and the ladies were very relaxed. |
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After Dalarna, we went to the west coast of Sweden to visit Ann’s Dad and Jane, who moved to a pretty little town on the coast. We had the best shrimp in the world, which came straight off the boat that same afternoon. We then headed back to Stockholm and our last couple of days were spent just enjoying the city, old town, and then attending Bitte’s 50th birthday party, which was so fun, dancing to 3am in the morning. |
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Thank you everyone who helped to make this a February to Remember! |
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Submitted by bradford on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 19:56.